Happy Birthday 9-1-1

[EJS1810 7]

I found this on the Dispatch Monthly website. Happy Birthday to all of us who spend the day answering the 911 phones.

The very first 9-1-1 call was made in Haleyville (Ala.) on February 16, 1968, making this year its 40th anniversary. The three-digit emergency number was born from the tumultuous 1960s and President Lyndon Johnson's recognition--political or otherwise--that crime was a significant challenge in America. He directed a commission to come up with recommendations on tackling crime, and one of those was, "a single police telephone number should be established, at least within a metropolitan area and eventually over the entire United States, comparable to the telephone company's long-distance information number." The same day that AT&T announced they would use the digits 9-1-1 to implement the crime commission's recommendation, Alabama Telephone Co. president Bob Gallagher decided to implement the nation's first system on his company's small network. He contacted Robert Fitzgerald, who was Inside State Plant Manager for ATC, who in turn identified Haleyville as the perfect site. Fitzgerald then designed the circuitry and directed the effort to implement 911 in the town, in the northwest portion of the state. Fitzgerald worked with technicians Jimmy White, Glenn Johnston, Al Bush and Pete Gosa to quickly complete the necessary central office work and to install a red phone. On February 16, 1968 Alabama Speaker of the House Rankin Fite dialed 9-1-1 from Haleyville City Hall, and U.S. Rep. Tom Bevill (Dem.) answered the call at the city's police station...the very first 9-1-1 call.

[DOC22 1]

Nice find, Ed!

An interesting bit of history. It has sure come a long way since then! Probably one of the things Government was responsible for imolementing that was really a good one.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

I always found it amazing how the first call was made in that little Alabama town in 1968, meanwhile, one of the most populated and financially rich counties in the country didn't have it until around 1993 and even still Westchester's 911 system doesn't conform to the recommendations set forth by the report issued by the commission established by President Johnson. One of the biggest...the importance of having a single centralized PSAP.

[rfdu39 89]

Amazing what 911 has become since its first use in that little Alabama town.

[CAM502 6]

Here is an interesting site on this topic: History of 911

[jack10562 414]

Good article, CAM502

And Thanks to Ed for starting the topic!